KAJIKAWA: A RARE LACQUER BUNDAI (WRITING TABLE)
By a member of the Kajikawa family, signed Kajikawa saku and with pot seal
Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

The writing surface decorated in gold and silver hiramaki-e, takamaki-e, and gold and silver foils against a black lacquer ground with various floral roundels, including ume (plum) blossoms, kiri (paulownia), kiku (chrysanthemum), and peony (botan), against a separated hanabishi-shippo pattern which is repeated on the exterior legs, the underside of the table and interior legs with nashiji, the corners and sides mounted with silvered fittings. The writing surface signed KAJIKAWA saku with a pot seal in the lower left corner.

SIZE 15 x 62.5 x 36.3 cm

Condition: Overall good condition with minor wear, particularly to edges, some wear to lacquer, several fittings are lost, one of the feet has been reattached some time ago, some of the gold foil a little loose, all as visible on the images provided.
Provenance: Collection of Wivica Ankarcrona Borell (1935-2019). Her grandfather Sten Ankarcrona was a Swedish marine officer who came to Japan on a special mission in 1923, bringing back vast collections of Japanese art and decorating his summer house, creating first a Japanese garden and later a complete Japanese building as documented in Svenska Hem i ord och bild (Swedish Home in Words and Pictures) in 1928, providing a fascinating look at this golden age of European collecting. Their guest book contains the signature of the Swedish king Gustav VI Adolf as well as that of the Japanese crown prince, later Emperor Akihito.

Auction comparison:
The exact matching suzuribako to the present bundai, also from the Ankarcrona Collection, was sold at Christie's, Crafted Landscapes: The Ankarcrona Collection of Japanese Lacquer and Asian Works of Art, 1 October 2020, New York, lot 21 (sold for 18,750 USD). Compare a set of bundai and suzuribako, signed Kajikawa and dated to the Meiji period (late 19th century), at Christie's, The Edoris Collection of Japanese Art / Japanese Art & Design, 10 November 2004, London, lot 148 (sold for 19,120 GBP).